Ying Wu1,2, Hongyan Du3,
Christopher Glielmi4, Shawn Sidharthan1, Ryan Hutten1,
Ann Ragin5, Paul S. Tofts6, Robert R. Edelman1
1Radiology, NorthShore University
HealthSystem, Evanston, IL, United States; 2Radiology, University
of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; 3Center for Clinical
Research Informatics, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, IL,
United States; 4MR Research & Development, Siemens Healthcare,
Chicago, IL, United States; 5Radiology, Northwestern University,
Chicago, United States; 6Imaging Physics, Brighton & Sussex
Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom
Obtaining magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) measurements of hippocampus and other basal ganglia regions necessitated human manual operation in the past. Most of studies of MT had been conducted at 1.5T. The validity of MTR at 3T has not been fully established. This investigation tested a high resolution MT sequence targeting small brain functional regions and implemented automated subcortical segmentation to eliminate human operator bias. We demonstrate excellent reliability in critical small brain regions that are susceptible to neurodegenerative pathologies such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease.